One of the largest Dutch eyewear retail chains said on Friday it had suspended sales of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses in the Netherlands and Belgium amid growing privacy concerns, in one of the first such moves by a retailer.

“This decision follows the ongoing public and political debate surrounding smart glasses and the questions being raised about the conditions under which this technology ⁠can ​be used,” a spokesperson for the Hans Anders chain said.

A growing Dutch outcry over the glasses mirrors a broader backlash against smart glasses equipped with cameras.

Story continues below.
Subscribe to see fewer ads.

In Britain, pub chain Wetherspoon has restricted use ​of Meta’s ​glasses over concerns about covert recording, while ⁠Meta and Luxottica face a US suit alleging videos captured by the glasses were viewed by human annotators ‌without the knowledge of people filmed.

A Meta spokesperson said the company is continuing to develop the popular glasses. “Every pair with a camera has a bright light on the front that blinks when you take a photo or video — it can’t be turned off, and the camera is disabled if someone covers ⁠or tampers with it,” ⁠they said.

In the Netherlands, privacy regulator AP last month warned that videos made with smart glasses ⁠showing identifiable ‌people cannot generally be shared or published without ​their permission, which would be difficult to obtain ‌in a public place.

Consumer rights group Consumentenbond this week said it would take Meta to court unless the company ‌changes the glasses to ​comply with ​privacy law.

Story continues below this ad

Offlimits, ​a group that combats online abuse, on Friday also urged Meta and Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica to voluntarily ​remove the glasses from sale until a ⁠way can be found to make surreptitious recordings impossible.

EssilorLuxottica could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hans Anders is a subsidiary of Nexeye, which ‌is ⁠owned by private